West Philadelphia : In The News

Drexel University materials scientists Alexander Moseson and Michel Barsoum have created a low-tech, low-energy cement they hope will reduce carbon output as developing countries build more sidewalks, roads and housing.

Potential demand for lower-carbon building materials has sparked a race to replace Portland cement featuring a handful of manufacturers and scientists. Some claim to sequester carbon within the cement itself. Others use alternative fuels. Still others tap unconventional feedstocks, such as magnesium silicate, that require lower kiln temperatures.

Moseson and Barsoum are trying the latter, mixing recycled iron slag or fly ash with readily available limestone. "We literally used a bag of garden lime from Home Depot," Moseson said. Instead of a coal-fired kiln, they use a bucket with a spoon at room temperature.

Original source: Daily Climate
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Young Upstarts takes a peek at Philadelphia's Storably, launched in September by Wharton graduates and on the verge of bringing its platform -- likened to Airbnb for storage -- to other markets.

The founders started working in a basement from May this year, putting together mockups and building the site with an off-shore development team. However, the quality wasn’t quite what they expected. Kowitt and Gupta then hired a full-time VP of Engineering, Nick Shiftan, who rebuilt the site from scratch. They later brought on Brendan Lowry as a community manager. The site was formally launched in Philadelphia on September 21, and the startup intends to expand nationally soon.

Original source: Young Upstarts
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The Wall Street Journal spotlights the rifle teams at USciences, a college known more for its pharmacy program than marksmanship training.

For the past 35 years, the USciences shooting program was led by coach Paul Klimitas, who is widely credited with spurring the team, known as the Devils, on to numerous victories. It ended last season ranked 15th out of the 38 NCAA teams in the country -- tied with one of the top military academies, Virginia Military Institute.

"They're competing against people who are training to be soldiers and spending hours every day doing military exercises," says Marling "Newt" Engle, a member of the NCAA Rifle Committee, of the UCSciences team.

Original source: Wall Street Journal
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Technically Philly sits down with Dr. Chad Womack, a nanobiomolecular entrepreneur who is trying to increase opportunities  in science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) for city children.

Womack’s America21 Project is focused on empowering urban centers and communities through STEM education and workforce development, high-growth entrepreneurship and access to capital. With his new venture, he’s still actively engaging the District around STEM priorities.

Original source: Technically Philly
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Drexel University researcher Dr. Yury Gogotsi believes figuring out why cell phone and laptop batteries die prematurely will help create a sustainable energy grid, reports Nanowerk.

"A dramatic expansion of research in the area of electrochemical energy storage has occurred over the past due to an ever increasing variety of handheld electronic devices that we all use," Gogotsi said. "This has expanded use of electrical energy in transportation, and the need to store renewable energy efficiently at the grid level. This process has been accompanied by the chase for glory with the arrival of new materials and technologies that leads to unrealistic expectations for batteries and supercapacitors and may hurt the entire energy storage field."

The main type of energy storage device addressed in the article is the supercapacitor. Supercapacators, which are built from relatively inexpensive natural materials such as carbon, aluminum and polymers, are found in devices, ranging from mobile phones and laptop batteries to trams, buses and solar cells.

Original source: Nanowerk
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A University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine study found that converting vacant lots into small parks or community green spaces can reduce crime in distressed neighborhoods, reports The Atlantic.

Vacant lot greening was associated with significant reductions in gun assaults across all four sections of Philadelphia in the study and with significant reductions in vandalism in one section. Greening was also associated with the reporting of significantly less stress in one of the sections of the city and with more exercise in another. Cholesterol numbers were lower to a statistically significant degree for the greened areas across all four city sections.

Original source: The Atlantic
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The Fairmount Park Art Association makes USA Today's list for America's must-see sculpture gardens.

This group started in 1872 to integrate sculpture into the city, and is the main reason Philadelphia is now said to have more public art than any other city. Visitors can download MP3s or use a cellphone for tours of the city's extensive sculpture collection, which is overseen by the association. You'll find a concentration of art in Fairmont Park, a 9,200-acre urban oasis.

Original source: USA Today
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A Wharton School MBA is working with a University of Pennsylvania team on a local startup that aims to make transferring money overseas more efficient, reports el-emergente.com

Edrizio De La Cruz, a recent MBA graduate from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, founded Regalii and leads the UPenn team working on it. For Edrizio, It’s a personal mission. "I grew up in the Dominican Republic," Says Edrizio, "and immigrated to New York's Washington Heights neighborhood, which was probably 110 percent Dominican. But I went to high school in Queens, where I used to play basketball with Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians and Salvadorians. I quickly assimilated to each subculture. But my social circle was pretty homogeneous. Almost everyone around me was an immigrant. So I assumed that only immigrants sent money or remained connected to family in Latin America."

Original source: el-emergente.com
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Modern Luxury takes a look at David Adelman's new film production company, which got its start soon after he produced a video commemorating his recently deceased grandmother.

Breaking ranks with his Wharton-School peers, David Adelman is gunning to glamorize a pastime formerly left to the 8 mm. Testing his entrepreneurial mettle, the 29-year-old recently launched Reel Tributes (reeltributes.com), a film production company that works to capture the narratives of wired-in clans, whether they come from the perspective of the patriarchs or their heirs. using high-definition video, boom mics and social media to crowdsource material from friends and relatives around the world, the firm cranks out an upmarket result. Picture Nana on E! True Hollywood Story.

Original source: Modern Luxury
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Philadelphia's own Capogiro, which has four area locations, was named the No. 1 place in the world to eat ice cream by National Geographic.

Made with the freshest ingredients (such as milk from Amish grass-fed cows), the artisan gelatos and sorbettos handcrafted each day at Capogiro Gelato include flavors not seen anywhere else—Madagascar bourbon vanilla, melograno (pomegranate), nocciola Piemonte (hazelnut), Saigon cinnamon, Thai coconut milk (with a dash of rum), and zucca (long-neck pumpkin).

Original source: National Geographic
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Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called for U.S. mayors to help create change at the national level when it comes to issues of sustainability, reports Smart Planet, at the United Nations Environmental Programme's Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania last week.

The panel also included former Toronto mayor David Miller, Sao Paulo municipal secretary Elton Santa Fé Zacarias and Madrid housing agency representative Catalina de Miguel Garcia. It was moderated by former Nashville mayor Bill Purcell.

“I want to encourage all of my fellow mayors in the United States and around the world: everyone should set a goal to be the number one green city,” Nutter said. “If we strive for this goal, everyone will win.”

The key is “infusing” such policies in all departments and at all levels of city government.

Original source: Smart Planet
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Earth Techling takes a closer look at Drexel University's vertical wall of living plants inside the new Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building, the largest such wall in North America.

Scientists and students at the university are currently studying the biowall and the plant and microbe communities responsible for its air filtration properties to get a better understanding of how the whole thing works. Dr. Michael Waring, an assistant professor in the university’s College of Engineering who specializes in indoor environmental engineering, will focus on the chemical and physical aspects of the living wall, while two biology faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Jacob Russell and Dr. Shivanthi Anandan, will focus on the wall’s biological functions.

Original source: Earth Techling
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A Wyndmoor-based project raked in more than $5.7 million from the USDA to research stink bug management, reports American Agriculturist.

Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pa., $322,202: Improve long-term viability of the fresh U.S.-grown mushroom industry by marketing mushrooms as an excellent source of Vitamin D.

USDA Agricultural Research Service, Wyndmoor, Pa., $5,739,966: Develop economically and environmentally sustainable pest management practices for the brown marmorated stink bug.

In making the announcement, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said "Specialty crops producers in the United States – as with all of American agriculture – are seeing sales surge both domestically and abroad as consumers search for high quality, 'Grown in America' fruits, vegetables and tree nuts."

Original source: American Agriculturist
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Local restaurants are getting a reputation for farm fresh ingredients, according to OffManhattan.

To taste the freshest produce in the region, you can shop one of the city’s many farmers market, haul your selections back home, and crack open a cookbook. Or you can take the effortless route, and settle into one of the top farm-to-table restaurants in Philadelphia.

Uniquely positioned between ‘Jersey Fresh’ territory and Amish Country, Philly offers its chefs an impressive variety of local, seasonal ingredients from which to craft their award-winning menus. And diners will be excited to know that much of this produce makes its way from farm to plate just one day after harvesting. Yes, the peppery radishes and buttery greens in your appetizer salad may have been plucked from the dirt just hours ago.

Source: OffManhattan
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New findings at The University of Pennsylvania may signify a turning point in the long struggle to develop effective gene therapies against cancer, according to The New York Times.

A year ago, when chemotherapy stopped working against his leukemia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and thought he had nothing to lose.

Doctors removed a billion of his T-cells -- a type of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors -- and gave them new genes that would program the cells to attack his cancer. Then the altered cells were dripped back into Mr. Ludwig’s veins.

Source: The New York Times
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